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Environment

Amount of BP fines to fund Louisiana’s coastal restoration still a promise, not a certainty | The Lens – Last week, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council approved a plan to spend fines levied on BP for the 2010 spill. So far, however, there’s little money in the fund. And even if BP ends up paying close to its maximum penalty of $17.1 billion, it’s unclear how much will go to Louisiana.

Recent accidents highlight shallow water dangers, departing regulator says | Fuel Fix – The outgoing director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement reiterates the need for vigilant oversight, after recent accidents on shallow-water drilling rigs. I would add that these warnings come as new companies headed by familiar names are buying up shallow-water assets off coastal Louisiana.

The oceans are acidifying at the fastest rate in 300 million years. How worried should we be? | The Washington Post – Will acidification decimate species or will sealife find ways to adapt? 

Government & Politics

Ag commissioner chasing debts on failed projects | The Advocate – The article dissects the failure of a $72 million state-funded cane syrup mill, which was a controversial pet project of former Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Bob Odom.

Jindal on Syria: More clarity needed on America’s strategic interests in conflict | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – Gov. Bobby Jindal: “This administration’s foreign policy has made us weaker abroad. I think our enemies and our allies alike would like to see a more consistent approach from the United States.”

Schools

Gov. Jindal: Obama should drop suit opposing school choice | The Washington Post – Gov. Bobby Jindal, who has previously claimed that ensuring great education for all is the “next great civil rights fight” of our time, makes his case for school voucher programs in the face of federal opposition.

Warren Easton a lesson in survival on Canal Street | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – Generous donations by actress Sandra Bullock have helped Warren Easton Charter High School survive since Katrina, continuing a history which can be traced back over 150 years.

Self-Regulation: American Schools Are Failing Nonconformist Kids | New Republic – A perennial question: Shouldn’t we encourage independent spirits to flourish in schools, rather than create systems (and diagnoses) that extinguish them?

Land Use

2014 target date for long-awaited 9th Ward project | The Louisiana Weekly

Golden shovels and all, ground will break next Monday on a vision more than five years in the making: the 9th Ward Field of Dreams.

Set to open for the 2014 football season, the $1.85 million project will give the kids at George Washington Carver High School and the surrounding community a football field, Olympic-sized track, lighting system, and stadium seating.

Though located on the Carver campus, the state-of-the-art facilities will be open and free of charge to all schools in the city as well as the community.

Jefferson Parish Performing Arts Center final agreement doesn’t include all costs | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – A so-called “global settlement” on a controversial $54.5 million arts center doesn’t include hundreds of thousands in costs.

Criminal Justice

BGR Report: New Orleans courts bloated with judges | The New Orleans Advocate

Some $14 million could be saved annually by ridding New Orleans courts of more than half their judges, a reduction supported by a formula for estimating workloads for jurists across the state, according to a report released Tuesday by the Bureau of Governmental Research.

News Orleans has become deadly even for little girls | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – In a link-filled post columnist Jarvis DeBerry documents the recent shootings that have taken the lives of children in the New Orleans area. DeBerry wonders whether these tragedies will galvanize the community to act against intolerable violence?

Mark Moseley

Mark Moseley blogs at Your Right Hand Thief. Until mid 2014, Mark Moseley was The Lens' opinion writer, engagement specialist and coordinator for the Charter Schools Reporting Corps. After Katrina and...